The present invention relates to apparatus for the display of merchandise in supermarkets and the like, and more particularly to a system which allows quick and efficient positioning of canned or boxed goods on the front portion of the shelf while eliminating the conventional practice of utilizing several cans or boxes in the rear to support and face the forwardmost rows of goods.
Heretofore, the arraying and supplementing of goods on shelves in a supermarket, department store or the like has presented a number of problems. For example, in a supermarket canned goods must be loaded onto a shelf and arranged in neat rows. Due to the significant depth of the typical shelf, there is a tendency for goods to be sold starting from the front portion of the shelf. Typically, goods remain unsold and shelved for long periods of time at the innermost portions of the shelf. In order to eliminate this, supermarket clerks have utilized individual cans as spacers for positioning a few rows of cans which are to be sold toward the forwardmost portion of the shelf. This arrangement is time consuming to establish and makes replentishing of the cans more tedious. Frequently, the cans which are utilized as spacers represent a loss of inventory, and multiplied over hundred of shelves, this can represent a substantial economic loss. Such loss results when canned goods are utilized as spacers until expiration of the date past which they cannot be sold under law.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,783 of Karashima discloses a merchandising system in which rearwardly inclined surfaces are utilized on the display shelves so that as goods are removed from the front portion of the shelf, goods at the rearward portion of the shelf displace forwardly under the action of gravity. A significant amount of apparatus is required. There is a possibility that the forwardmost cans may become pinched against the forward rail of the shelf making them difficult to remove.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,685,372 of Palaith discloses a grocery store commodity shelf which rests upon a conventional shelf. The commodity shelf has an extensible forward portion which serves to support canned or boxed goods forward of adjacent conventional shelves for drawing attention thereto. It appears that goods are positioned and stored on the commodity shelf all the way to the rear wall of the conventional shelf.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,466,335 of Gleason discloses a tray adapted to support a plurality of boxed goods in a longitudinally extending row on a conventional shelf. The tray can apparently be slid forwardly to facilitate removal of one of the boxes. The tray is configured to permit lateral displacement of one of the boxes at the side of the tray during removal.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,195 of Radek discloses a shelf having a plurality of holes drilled therethrough for receiving the ends of the legs of a plurality of bent wire partition members. The partition members can be inserted at various locations to most advantageously divide the shelf into different storage compartments of different sizes to accommodate merchandise of different dimensions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,563 of Eckart, Jr. discloses a shelving system for displaying cans of paint. Multiple color display panels are permanently hinged to the frontal edges of the shelves to indicate the color of the paint in the adjacent cans.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,389 of Snyder discloses a display stand including a base and a plurality of shelves supported on upright brackets. The shelves have horizontally extensible forward portions.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 1,983,187 of Oswell discloses a vertical rack for a lunch counter which holds condiments in position. The rack which includes a pair of vertical support posts which are inserted into slots formed by straps attached to the rear edge of the counter.